Tuesday, November 01, 2016

From Russia with love?

by digby

I don't know what the hell is up with the Russia thing. But with Harry Reid accusing James Comey of a double standard by failing to inform the public of something to do with Russian interference in the election, the news that there is an inquiry into Paul Manafort and this latest from David Corn, it's certainly something worth thinking about. Evidently a former intelligence officer tells Corn he was tasked with doing some oppo on Trump and found some startling information:

Mother Jones has reviewed that report and other memos this former spy wrote. The first memo, based on the former intelligence officer's conversations with Russian sources, noted, "Russian regime has been cultivating, supporting and assisting TRUMP for at least 5 years. Aim, endorsed by PUTIN, has been to encourage splits and divisions in western alliance." It maintained that Trump "and his inner circle have accepted a regular flow of intelligence from the Kremlin, including on his Democratic and other political rivals." It claimed that Russian intelligence had "compromised" Trump during his visits to Moscow and could "blackmail him." It also reported that Russian intelligence had compiled a dossier on Hillary Clinton based on "bugged conversations she had on various visits to Russia and intercepted phone calls."

The former intelligence officer says the response from the FBI was "shock and horror." The FBI, after receiving the first memo, did not immediately request additional material, according to the former intelligence officer and his American associates. Yet in August, they say, the FBI asked him for all information in his possession and for him to explain how the material had been gathered and to identify his sources. The former spy forwarded to the bureau several memos—some of which referred to members of Trump's inner circle. After that point, he continued to share information with the FBI. "It's quite clear there was or is a pretty substantial inquiry going on," he says.

"This is something of huge significance, way above party politics," the former intelligence officer comments. "I think [Trump's] own party should be aware of this stuff as well."

The FBI is certainly investigating the hacks attributed to Russia that have hit American political targets, including the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta, the chairman of Clinton's presidential campaign. But there have been few public signs of whether that probe extends to examining possible contacts between the Russian government and Trump. (In recent weeks, reporters in Washington have pursued anonymous online reports that a computer server related to the Trump Organization engaged in a high level of activity with servers connected to Alfa Bank, the largest private bank in Russia. On Monday, a Slate investigationdetailed the pattern of unusual server activity but concluded, "We don't yet know what this [Trump] server was for, but it deserves further explanation." In an email toMother Jones, Hope Hicks, a Trump campaign spokeswoman, maintains, "TheTrump Organization is not sending or receiving any communications from this email server. The Trump Organization has no communication or relationship with this entity or any Russian entity.")

Again, I have no idea whether any of this is for real. But it is clear that somebody has been stealing Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's private communications and giving them to Wikileaks to put them online. There is some consensus that it's got something to do with the Russian government. This may just be BS, but who knows? Trump has behaved very out of character toward Vladimir Putin in this election, treating him with more respect and deference than anyone else in the entire world, and it makes you wonder.

I put this up yesterday before I had read any of this stuff, feeling as if it was very strange when I saw it:

You have to see this for yourself.

In 2013, Trump, who now denies any such a relationship, repeatedly says he has a relationship w/ Putin. pic.twitter.com/wwo9XDWYbn